Sebastian Mahecha 3rd 11/29/16 BNW Essay In a world created where everything is under control, being observed, and fake it makes us wonder if government control is causing the failure of a society. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, written in 1931, he introduces to us a description of some type of futuristic world state, in which people are conditioned and manipulated from the birth to death and is meant to be a warning of the danger of dehumanization. Huxley gives us the idea of the misuse of many things like political power, economic control, sciences and, ethical values. In the book, all problems have been eliminated and the people are living in wealth and happiness by eliminating intellectualism, values and individual freedom. …show more content…
Aldous creates and divides the society into 5 diverse castes, making each wear a different color and raised into a manner suitable for their class. "Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they're so frightfully clever. I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They're too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly color. I'm so glad I'm a Beta." (27). This society where everyone is placed into their own and separate class achieves a society where nobody gets jealous of anybody and creates a world that runs easily and happily which means the government will be stable and controlled just how it was …show more content…
The people in the book are conditioned to be happy in their social caste and absorb the words and ideas implanted into their head by the government. This is very like our society now and days in the real life. They say we must go to school and get an education or else you won’t be successful, they say we have to go get a job, they say many things that they want to put in our heads but that’s just a way for them to keep us under control and them in power, and of course when I’m referring to “them and “they” I mean the government. This point that Aldous is making opened my eyes and see what is to come and it is scary how close we are getting to being just like the World State. It really does make me ponder on the idea if it really is the future he is talking about or is it taking place right now but we are just to blind to see what is
Brave New World is an unsettling, loveless and even sinister place. This is because Huxley endows his "ideal" society with features calculated to alienate his audience. Typically, reading Brave New World elicits the very same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has notionally vanquished - not a sense of joyful anticipation. Huxley's novel presents a startling view of the future which on the surface appears almost comical. His intent, however, is not humor. Huxley's message is dark and depressing. His idea that in centuries to come, a one-world government will rise to power, stripping people's freedom, is not a new idea. What makes Huxley's interpretation different is the fact that his fictional society not only lives in a totalitarian government, but takes an embracive approach like mindless robots. For example, Soma, not nuclear bombs, is the weapon of choice for the World Controllers in Brave New World. The world leaders have realized that fear and intimidation have only limited power; these tactics simply build up resentment in the minds of the oppressed. Subconscious persuasion and mind-altering drugs, on the other hand, appear to have no side effects.
According to Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World both predicted that society would eventually be governed by a global totalitarian system; however, the key difference between both their predictions is the method by which society’s cognizance would be undermined. Orwell claimed that contemporary society would be controlled by overt modes of policing and supervising the social hierarchy, whereas Huxley stated that society’s infatuation with entertainment and superficial pleasure alone would be enough for the government to have absolute control over the public. Unfortunately, today’s society is not an Animal Farm. All jokes aside, Postman’s assertion of Huxley’s theory, “what
Examining Aldous Huxley’s View on Government Control “Science and technology provide the means for controlling the lives of citizens” (Brave). This quote describes a major and ever-growing problem in the basic, daily lives of society now, and has been since the mid-twentieth century. With technology, medicine, and general knowledge evolving so rapidly, it is hard to find a constant code by which governments can carry out their purpose of regulating societies. In some cases, organization is taken to an extreme level that chokes out creativity and individuality while replacing it with codes and stern punishments (Huxley). On the other end of the spectrum, liberalism can flourish in an atmosphere of prosperity and freedom, but not for very long (Huxley).
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the author depicts a collective society in which everyone has the same values and beliefs. From a young age, the people in the World State’s civilization are conditioned to believe in their motto of “Community, Identity, Stability.” Through hypnopaedia, the citizens of the World State learn their morals, values, and beliefs, which stay with them as they age. However, like any society, there are outsiders who alienate themselves from the rest of the population because they have different values and beliefs. Unfortunately, being an outsider in the World State is not ideal, and therefore there are consequences as a result. One such outsider is John. Brought from the Savage Reservation, John is lead to conform to the beliefs of the World State, thus losing his individuality, which ultimately leads him to commit suicide. Through John and the World State populace as an example, Huxley uses his novel to emphasize his disapproval of conformity over individuality.
In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley illustrates ways in which government and advanced science control society. Through actual visualization of this Utopian society, the reader is able to see how this state affects Huxley’s characters. Throughout the book, the author deals with many different aspects of control. Whether it is of his subjects’ feelings and emotions or of the society’s restraint of population growth, Huxley depicts government’s and science’s role in the brave new world of tomorrow.
Imagine a world where everything is controlled by the government. Imagine a world where science, literature, religion, and even family, do not exist. Imagine a world where citizens are conditioned to accept this. This is exactly how the world is portrayed in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The focus of the World State is on society as a whole rather than on individuals. Some characters from the novel have a harder time accepting the conditioning. Through these characters, we learn the true cost of a government-dominated society. In Brave New World, Huxley conveys that a totalitarian government will provide happiness and peace by abolishing individuality and free thinking.
The world was in utter shambles when Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World. It was the middle of the depression, unemployment was high and the stock market low. It was the age of sterilizing the mentally ill, and the age of mass manufacturing by machines. Scientific progress was on the rise, and Henry Ford was considered a savior. Huxley's imaginary world of scientific perfection was far from perfect. The texture of his imaginary world is nearer to nightmare that to heaven on earth (Watts 72). In creating the prophecy, New World State, scientific evolution, in trying to create a superior society, is only as perfect as its' creator.
Imagine living in a society where there is no sense of independence, individual thought or freedom. A society where the government uses disturbing methods that dehumanize people in order to force conformity upon them. Taking away any sense of emotion, It would be very undesirable to live in a society with such oppression. Such society is portrayed in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. The World State uses social restrictions to create permanent artificial personalities for people within the society. The World State also uses controlled groupings of people to brainwash them further to be thoughtless people with no sense of individualism. Lastly, the World State uses drugs to create artificial happiness for people, leaving no room for intense emotion which causes people to revolt against the World State. Within the novel Brave New World, it is seen that the World State eliminates individuality through social restrictions, government controlled groupings and the abuse of drugs to maintain control of the population.
Further along there becomes more insight of the society and the readers can see that this society lives under a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of people's lives with just a handful of people that make up the leaders of a certain region of earth. This challenges our societal structure by showing how good they have it with all of their technological advances that are controlled by the government and they have become so advanced they can even do selective production and they create humans in test tubes. This is done to brainwash people to be happy with the caste they are placed into at birth from the lowest being Deltas, Gammas, Betas, and the highest caste being Alphas that have the best of the best. So, this working of a society brings up plenty of moral questions about whether this is wrong to take away all free will in exchange to give the people a completely stable society where everyone gets along, if they don’t know that there is a a different way to live? With our capitalist government that is fueled by the people there will be rich people and poor but with it all being controlled by a powerful government all of these problems can be taken away. In Brave New World every citizen is created by the government is what they see as a perfect image without disease,
David Grayson once said that "Commandment Number One of any truly civilized society is this: Let people be different". Difference, or individuality, however, may not be possible under a dictatorial government. Aldous Huxley's satirical novel Brave New World shows that a government-controlled society often places restraints upon its citizens, which results in a loss of social and mental freedom. These methods of limiting human behavior are carried out by the conditioning of the citizens, the categorical division of society, and the censorship of art and religion.
In the novel, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley wrote about his idea of a futuristic, manmade society. This future world is not one of a hopeful, or a perfect utopia; the opposite is true in this novel. It becomes clear early in this story that the created society is a disturbing dystopia where, technological advancement controls the citizens and strips them of their individuality. This future world focuses on the entire collective civilization whose importance is that of economy, industry and improving technology these are the things that society feels will make them happy. The individual has no place in the Brave New World, a world where science is used to enslave humans and
These futuristic societies show what can happen if we follow governmental rule without questions. Huxley shows us that this can be a “possible shape for things to come” in America’s society if we keep doing what we are doing (Schmerl 38). This can even occur if people stop thinking critically and just follow along. Instead of people choosing their own pursuit of happiness and freedoms, they have the governments choose it for them.
Technology, which has brought mankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century, can also ruin the life of peoples. In the novel Brave New World, the author Aldous Huxley shows us what technology can do if we exercise it too much. From the novel we can see that humans can lose humanity if we rely on technology too much. In the novel, the author sets the world in the future where everything is being controlled by technology. This world seems to be a very perfectly working utopian society that does not have any disease, war, problems, crisis but it is also a sad society with no feelings, emotions or human characteristics. This is a very scary society because everything is being controlled even before someone is born, in test tube, where they determine of which class they are going to fall under, how they are going to look like and beyond. Therefore, the society of Brave New World is being controlled by society form the very start by using technology which affects how the people behave in this inhumane, unrealistic, society.
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, portrays a future society where people are no longer individuals but are controlled by the World State. The World State dominates the people by creating citizens that are content with who they are. Brave New World describes how the science of biology and psychology are manipulated so that the government can develop technologies to change the way humans think and act. The World State designs humans from conception for this society. Once the humans are within the society the state ensures all people remain happy. They program these humans to have needs and desires that will sustain a lucrative economy while not thinking of themselves as an individual. Huxley describes the Worlds State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism which has similarities to modern society.
Can a utopian society ever exist? The answer to that question is a blunt no. Everyone’s different expectations create a world with many diversities. The society in Brave New World is considered dystopian because the people are living under the assumption that their world is perfect. They have a major drug addiction and uncontrolled sexual intercourse, plus a whole lot of other social issues. While our current society may not be perfect, it would be far better off than the society pictured in the novel. Therefore, the society in Brave New World is different from the current society in the United States of America.